News and Reviews

If rumors are to be believed, Ubisoft's next game might be a remake of Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag. While nothing has been confirmed by Ubisoft, numerous reports have been leaked or hinted at through the years, of a potential remake to one of Ubisoft's most successful entries in the series, giving building credence to the idea of a remake actually being developed. However, other rumors claim that there will be major changes within the potential Assassin's Creed IV remake, including doing away with all modern-day sections of the game, or reportedly modernizing it with more RPG-like gameplay elements. Adding fuel to the fire, Ubisoft's financial report today showcased …

Publisher Ubisoft is making no secret of its plans to utilise generative AI tech — at least, it certainly sounds that way in new comments from CEO Yves Guillemot. The controversial technology has been a hot topic of discussion in the industry for a while now, and as it begins to feed into the games we're playing, it's rubbing some people the wrong way. Games like ARC Raiders, The Finals, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, and more used AI tools to varying degrees in their production, and they're being criticised by onlookers who are concerned about the tech replacing original creative work from human beings. It seems Ubisoft is going whole hog on the AI front. Speaking to investo…

South Korean studio Shift Up has begun recruiting for what seems to be a new game in the Stellar Blade series. Stellar Blade is a PS5 console exclusive action game that released last year, quickly becoming a fan favourite. Now, it looks as though the developer is openly hiring for people to work specifically on Stellar Blade's "next work". The company's recruitment page has several sections, each related to an individual project, and the Stellar Blade project is up at the top. Shift Up is hiring across several disciplines, including writers, artists, programmers, and designers. It's difficult to really glean any details about the game from the job listings, but it at leas…

In a sign of the times that makes us feel old, a new report has found that nearly half of the USA's children are planning to ask for in-game currencies this Christmas. A survey conducted by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) asked over 700 kids about video game gifts, with nearly three out of five respondents wanting a game-related present this holiday season. 43 per cent would like in-game currency, presumably for games such as Fortnite and Roblox. Some more statistics: 39 per cent of the kids want a game console, while 37 per cent would like physical games under the Christmas tree. The survey also asked more than a thousand adults about their Christmas purchas…

Earlier this year, those paying attention will have likely seen an unusual game cropping up on social media, all about digging a hole and seemingly nothing more. Well, that game is A Game About Digging a Hole, and after its huge success on PC, it's now coming to consoles. The viral hit indie title is tunnelling through to PS5 on 9th December 2025: The game is very much a what-it-says-on-the-tin situation; it's all about digging a hole in pursuit of unearthing treasures in the ground outside your new home. As you dig you find resources, which can be sold, and the cash you earn can be spent on upgrades to make the digging faster and easier. It's a very simple feedback loo…

As we celebrate the Xbox 360's 20th anniversary this week, I've been going back to one of its launch titles in the form of Perfect Dark Zero to see how it holds up and whether its mixed reaction over the years has been justified. My personal history with Perfect Dark is a little muddled - the first memory I have of the N64 version is watching my friends play it and enthuse about how it was "like GoldenEye, but better". I obviously ended up playing the Xbox Live Arcade version years later and enjoyed it, but I think some of the impact from its launch was lost on me. Perfect Dark Zero, meanwhile, has just been sitting on my shelf mostly untouched for the past 15 years-or-so…

Have you been waiting over a year for Silent Hill 2 to come to Xbox? Well, you don't have to wait any longer! Konami and Bloober Team are releasing the game on the Xbox Store today, complete with an immediate 50% discount. Despite bizarrely not appearing at the Xbox Partner Preview event, Silent Hill 2 Remake quietly started appearing for Xbox a few hours ago in certain regions, and now it's extending to even more countries - mostly at midnight local time. It just so happens to be Xbox Play Anywhere compatible as well, meaning you get a free PC version if you buy it for Series X and S. As for the game itself, here's the team's short introduction to its Silent Hill 2 rema…

Infocom's original Zork trilogy is now open-source under an MIT license, thanks to the combined efforts of Microsoft’s Open Source Programs Office (OSPO), Xbox, and Activision (h/t: The Verge). The three classic text adventures — which Microsoft OSPO director Stacey Haffner and the Microsoft vice president of developer community Scott Hanselman referred to in the announcement as "a cornerstone of gaming history" — were originally released between 1980 to 1982 for various home computers (such as the TRS-80 CoCo and Apple II), and have their roots in an earlier game that was developed between 1977 and 1979 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for a PDP-10 mainframe …

The 3DO M2 is one of the most famous unreleased consoles of all time. A successor to the ill-fated 3DO Interactive Multiplayer, the M2 promised the kind of power that would put the Saturn and PlayStation in the shade – but in 1996, 3DO sold the rights to M2 to Panasonic's parent company, Matsushita, which ultimately cancelled the project the following year. The M2 did make it to market as a physical product, however – the FZ35-S was a kiosk-style unit intended for commercial purposes. As explained by the 3DO Archive, it featured the same hardware as the M2, but was incapable of playing the games which were powered by the arcade variant of the M2 hardware. Thanks to the …

Not a fan of the 8BitDo 64 controller's rather simple black and white colour schemes? Then we have some good news to share with you. 8BitDo has just announced that it will be releasing a new colourway for the Bluetooth controller early next year, which more closely resembles the Nintendo 64 classic grey controller. That means, instead of the buttons all being one colour, like on the black and white models released earlier this year, the new controller will instead line up a little more closely with what you remember from back in the day, boasting a red start button, blue and green A&B buttons, and an all-yellow C-pad. This new controller will cost $44.99 ($5 more than…

The technology that powers the games we play has evolved over the past few decades to the point where graphics have transitioned from simple, blocky sprites to blindingly photorealistic in a relatively short period. However, the tech which allows us to interface with our games has enjoyed a somewhat less dramatic development; sure, analogue control might be the norm now, but it's easy to forget that the first game console to use analogue joysticks was the 1292 Advanced Programmable Video System, which hit the market all the way back in 1978. Still, that's not to say that the world of gaming controllers hasn't seen its share of innovation and creativeity, as a new tome fro…

Without any previous notice and out of nowhere, an Xbox Series version of the Silent Hill 2 Remake has appeared online through the official Microsoft Xbox Store in various regions. Right now, the game has an entry for US stores, but without an actual price tag and only showing the message "Not available separately". However, the Australian store does include a price tag for the base game, being at $49.97 AU, while the Deluxe Edition of the game goes for $57.47 AU. The game is also available for purchase in a bundle alongside "Silent Hill f", with both bundles offering a standard Dual Pack and a Deluxe Dual Pack as well. Many considered the game would have been unveiled…

There are many things synonymous with James Bond, and one of those is Aston Martin — a car brand he's been driving since Goldfinger. Well, fans will be pleased to know that the tradition of driving these swish supercars is set to continue in 007 First Light, as this new trailer reveals: The game will feature the Aston Martin Valhalla, albeit kitted out by Q with various gadgets and weapons. It's only allocated to 00-status agents, and our young Bond isn't at that level in the game, but presumably he'll get behind the wheel whether he has permission or not. 007 First Light is due for release on 27th March 2026, and we got to see some extended gameplay footage a little whil…

We thought Hitman’s time-limited Elusive Targets had peaked with the addition of Casino Royale’s Le Chiffre recently, but this new one takes the metaphorical cake. As hip-hop fans will know, in Eminem’s most recent album, The Death of Slim Shady, he attempted to lay his alter-ego to rest. But it seems like his other self continues to haunt him, and it’s up to Agent 47 to help. IO Interactive’s Yann Roskell teased on the Xbox Wire: If you don’t own the game, you’ll be able to play the mission for free as part of the Hitman Starter Pack. But keep in mind, the Elusive Target will only be available from 1st December to 31st December. In addition, a DLC pack featuring a new s…

Returnal may not be the best-selling PS5 exclusive, but it’s attracted a slew of copycats. The latest of those looks to be ARMATUS, a roguelite third-person shooter launching in 2026. This game is set in the “demon-infested ruins of Paris”, which some would argue is just modern-day France. But we think the dev’s taking a few creative liberties with the various firearms and celestial powers you’ll have access to. Here’s what the blurb says: The combat in the trailer looks tight, but we’ll need to try it for ourselves to see if dev Counterplay Games can match Housemarque’s buttery smooth game feel. View full article

As part of today's Xbox Partner Preview event, Microsoft has brought two new titles to Xbox Game Pass - yes, two XGP shadow drops on one day! The games in question are Total Chaos and CloverPit; both bringing different flavours of horror to the service on November 20th. Of course, we're going to detail both of these new Game Pass titles down below so you have a better idea of what you're looking at here - and do bear in mind that as these additions have only just been announced, it may take a little bit of time for them to show up as playable on XGP. Without further ado, here are your two new Game Pass shadow drops: CloverPit (Series X|S, PC, Cloud) Total Chaos (Series X|…

After what felt like an age of early access waiting, Hades II finally arrived as a console exclusive on Switch and Switch 2 back in September. Two months on, and that Switch 2 release has scored a physical edition — what's more, it's a beauty. We were lucky enough to get our hands on the new box today, and feast our eyes on all of the goodies within (a download code to a digital soundtrack, a 'Character Compendium' booklet, and the full game complete on cart). The nicest surprise of all, however, was the reversible cover art, giving us an option between the standard red banner of a Switch 2 physical, and something more... artsy. Flipping the cover insert over, you're trea…

Hiroshi Kubota, a former Sega staffer who worked as a sound programmer and composer, has passed away, we're sad to report. The news was broken by former colleague Koichi Namiki on social media and picked up by @allcityslopshop.com. According to Namiki, Kubota had been "battling illness for a long time." Kubota joined Sega in 1989, and, as documented by Sega Retro, one of his earliest ventures was the Mega Drive port of Sorcerian, for which he composed half of the new tracks with Tokuhiko Uwabo. He also arranged the music for Michael Jackson's Moonwalker, adapting Jackson's iconic songs for the Mega Drive version. Another arrangement task was taking Masato Nakamura's music…

The library of unofficial colorization projects for the original Game Boy keeps on growing, and today, another classic for the original Game Boy joins the list of fully colorized games thanks to the romhacking scene. Marc Robledo, a renowned romhacker known for his romhacking work like the Mega Man World 4 & 5 DX projects and the most recent colourization romhack released by him being Mole Mania DX, has released yet another full colourization project, with this colourization being for the 1990 title "Burger Time Deluxe", a port to the Game Boy of the classic arcade title released back in 1982. The gameplay for Burger Time is quite simple, with the player having to m…

It’s another GTA Online Weekly Update and it’s a big one to make some money in the casino before mansions get added. Plus, we have the the usual rotated discounts and more. This Event Week will run from November 20th through November 26th. GTA Online Content UpdatesMansions Construction Continues Rockstar Games will be releasing a brand new GTA Online DLC next month with a heavy focus on mansions. These new properties will be sold by Prix Luxury Real Estate. The company have begun construction of new mansions in the Vinewood Hills. You can visit these construction sites in West and East Vinewood Hills before they’re completed. New Listing Missions To help generate some in…

Apparently, we must warn you about the content of the latest gameplay trailer for Hellraiser: Revival, because it’s seriously graphic stuff. While there is a heavily edited version on YouTube, dev Boss Team Games is encouraging you to watch the red band version on its official website, which is much more explicit. Obviously, your discretion is advised. The trailer itself is pretty rough, showing all kinds of mutilation and sexual deviation. Based on what we played of the title at Gamescom, though, we reckon this should absolutely be on the radar of any survival horror fan. Here’s what the blurb says about the game: There’s still no official release date attached to the …

Reanimal is one of the headline games for today's Xbox Partner Showcase, but the key detail from the show has gotten out ahead of time: the PS5 horror title will release on 13th February 2026. PC platform Steam currently lists the release date on the game's landing page, offering up a horror-fueled alternative to any early Valentine's Day dates. The title comes from Tarsier Studios, which made the first two Little Nightmares games before leaving the franchise behind for Reanimal. "In this horror adventure game, a brother & sister go through hell to rescue their missing friends and escape the island that they used to call home," is the setup. In addition to today's new…

PS4 classic Bloodborne turned 10 this year, and to celebrate, Sony did absolutely nothing whatsoever. Companies have no duty to celebrate anniversaries in any substantial way, but given the FromSoftware game's status as a fan favorite, it was hoped that something might happen. It didn't, of course, but there is one way you can still mark the occasion: a series of new Bloodborne vinyl sets offering select tracks from the soundtrack. Pre-orders are opening up today. Available from Laced Records, you can purchase up to three different versions of an expanded vinyl that extra songs on it not featured in the original release. Volume 2 includes "four songs not included in the o…

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is now available on PS5 after one year of Xbox Series X|S and PC exclusivity, and much like that original launch, the hardcore title comes with a long list of technical faults on PS5. We have had access to the open world game for a few weeks now for review purposes, but have encountered numerous bugs, glitches, and performance issues during that time. A day one patch has been promised to fix many of those flaws, and now the game is out, so too is update 1.7. Based on our experience, it is essential that you update the game to this version to ensure the best experience available on PS5. Once we've tested S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 with its day one patch enabled, we'…

Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds gets a bit spongier this week, as its SpongeBob SquarePants DLC pack is now available in the kart racer. Those who own the season pass or Digital Deluxe edition of CrossWorlds will already have access, or you can buy the pack separately for $5.99/£4.99. Here's a look at what you're getting: The DLC adds both SpongeBob and Patrick as playable racers, alongside the Patty Wagon vehicle and a brand new track that takes the game to Bikini Bottom. You're also getting new music, emotes, and sounds included. SpongeBob is the second premium DLC pack for CrossWorlds, with the first being Minecraft. Coming up next will be Pac-Man, followed by Mega Man, Teen…