News and Reviews

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…

Earlier this week, G-Mode announced it would be reissuing another rare mobile spin-off to Atlus's 2004 tactical RPG, Stella Deus, as a G-MODE Archives+ title for Nintendo Switch and PC (thanks Gematsu!). Stella Deus: Time of Alchemy was originally released in 2007 for i-Mode compatible feature phones (mobile phones with limited functionality that predate modern smartphones). It is the follow-up to 2006's Stella Deus: The Spirit of Darkness, which G-Mode reissued back in September, and, much like its predecessor, once again focuses on a world embroiled in a bitter religious war, where a strange mist called Miasma has also begun destroying everything it comes into contact w…

The arcade market may be a shadow of its former self, but that doesn't mean its most distinguished veterans aren't still plugging away with new cabinets and titles. Sega Amusements has just revealed that it is updating its Daytona Championship USA arcade title with a new "motion" version, evoking the "taikan" ("body sensation") craze that Sega spearheaded in the '80s with games like Hang-On, Space Harrier, and After Burner. Here's what Sega Amusements has to say about the new model: As spotted by Arcade Heroes, this isn't an all-new cabinet – Sega Amusements previously used it in Apex Rebels, a racing title it co-produced with 3MindWave. Daytona Championship USA (also kn…

Yesterday, AYANEO held a special "Sharing Session" for its upcoming "premium" handheld, the AYANEO Pocket VERT, going over some of the features that will be included with the Game Boy-style device. Many of these features we'd already heard about in the past, such as the fact that it will include diamond-cut shoulder buttons, a 3.5" 1600×1440 LCD screen, and will offer "10× pixel-perfect Game Boy scaling". But there was also another surprise announcement from AYANEO's CEO, Arthur Zhang, which we can safely say we didn't expect. That announcement was that the device will actually include a large hidden dual-mode trackpad located beneath its glass front, which will be situat…

With three weeks to go until the Mega Dimension DLC drops, Pokémon Legends: Z-A has unveiled its next brand new Mega Evolution, and this time it's a Mythical Pokémon getting an upgrade. Zeraora was first introduced in Pokémon Ultra Sun & Ultra Moon, way back in Gen VII, and its Mega form makes a few subtle changes to its original design. Its mostly-yellow fur has turned black, and there's now a lot more blue on its knees, head, and chest. its blue tuft on its head has turned to something resembling a horn, and it has a few blue spikes across its body in general. And, lastly, it now has two ponytail-like features instead of one. It's definitely one of the lighter Mega …

If you're into cozy games with crafting, farming, and the like, but also like driving around in an open world, Dutch studio Square Glade Games has announced that Outbound is coming to Switch 2. Previously announced for the original Switch (don't worry, it's still coming to that console if you're a Switch 1 faithful), the game was a Kickstarter success back in 2024, raising a chunky €265,679 to bring Outbound to PC and consoles in Q2 2026, and that now includes Switch 2. The trailer above will give you a good idea of the gameplay blend the small team is working up, but it looks to be combining elements of open-world exploration (co-op with up to three other players if you …

Genvid CEO Jacob Navok, the former Director of Business at Square Enix, has shared his two cents' worth on the ongoing debate surrounding the use of AI in game development. While it's far from a glowing endorsement of the practice, Navok argues that most players "generally do not care" about it (thanks for the heads up, GamesRadar+). "For all the anti-AI sentiment we're seeing in various articles," Navok wrote in a recent post on X, "it appears consumers generally do not care". Alongside the successful launch of ARC Raiders, the source of Navok's argument is Steal a Brainrot, the Roblox game that racked up 30 million concurrent users ("approximately 80x the ARC Raiders co…

It was announced a little while back that the Gran Turismo series reached a whopping 100 million copies sold in total, making it comfortably one of Sony's most successful franchises. In celebration of this milestone, developer Polyphony Digital has announced a couple of things for Gran Turismo 7. The first is a major free update named Spec III, due for release in December. Additionally, a premium DLC called the Power Pack is also on the way, arriving at the same time as the update. Now, a less splashy bonus has been unveiled, but rather than rewarding existing fans, it's something only new buyers can enjoy. As announced on the game's socials, both editions of Gran Turismo…

Capcom has announced a new sales milestone for its fan favourite action RPG, Dragon's Dogma 2. As revealed on its official social channels, the cult hit sequel has now surpassed 4 million copies sold: Dragon's Dogma 2 launched in March 2024, meaning it's taken around 20 months for it to reach the milestone. The first 3 million sales were within the game's first few months. While fans are happy to celebrate the news, many responses are asking after some sort of DLC. The original Dragon's Dogma eventually received the Dark Arisen expansion, and players are hopeful that the sequel will get the same treatment. However, it's not clear that any such extra content is coming; Cap…

Today's Xbox Game Pass roundup has delivered some lovely upcoming additions - which we're very grateful to see given that the post-Black Ops 7 XGP lineup was looking a little thin. One game that's really standing out to us here is The Crew Motorfest; Ubisoft's 2023 racer set in open-world Hawaii. At the time of its release, we said that a true Forza Horizon competitor had come to market, and today, we're doubling down on that. Motorfest is a really good open world racing game, and one that's absolutely worth your time on Xbox Game Pass. If you've played any of the more recent Forza Horizon titles you'll pretty much know what to expect here. Rather than The Crew 1 & 2 …

Right now, it's a pretty good time to be a fan of shoot 'em ups! Not only did Polygon Bird's Radiant Silvergun and Ikaruga-esque shooter Birdcage recently release on Steam, earning some incredible early reactions from players. But we also have a ton of other exciting indie shoot 'em ups on the horizon to look forward to, with the latest of these to be added to our own personal wishlist being the promising 2D sidescroller, AGGRESTA. The promising shoot 'em up first came to our attention earlier this week, thanks to the regular Time Extension collaborator, Ashley Day, and is an independent game from the Japanese developer named Tetsu (てつ), who has been sharing updates of th…

It appears Rockstar Games have introduced some GTA 6 assets into GTA Online before the new game has come out. That’s according to a couple of dataminers who have delved into the game’s files from the Money Fronts update. Last week, Rockstar launched a series of new mansion teaser missions called the New Listing missions. As part of it, it led dataminer Lucas7yoshi_RS to examine how the missions work. He found some interesting things such as how the pool cover at Devin’s mansion is actually a bunch of fences with tarp, which are existing assets, placed horizontally. This is a neat trick by the developers at Rockstar to avoid making a brand new asset for this one area. Anot…

Tetris Effect (by the same developer as Lumines Arise) was a breakthrough puzzle game in the way it utterly transformed how we look at action puzzle games as audiovisual experiences. It was, essentially, an interactive music video with some of the coolest, most rhythmically vibrant music. The way it inspired the fingers to dance across the controller, pulling you totally within a trance-like zone, is quite possibly the best VR experience I’ve ever had, and the non-VR version then proved to be every bit as mesmerising. Since then, there have been a few attempts to capture that same vibe, perhaps most notably a better-than-people-give-it-credit-for revival of Fantavision. I…

After all of the Pokémon Legends: Z-A: Mega Dimension DLC news earlier this month, The Pokémon Company announced that another trailer drop would be heading our way on 19th November (that’s tomorrow, if you were wondering). Well, with the day almost upon us, we’ve got some more specific details about when we can expect things to get underway. As brought to our attention by Serebii.net, tomorrow’s new trailer will debut on the official Pokémon Company YouTube channel at 2pm GMT / 9am ET / 6am PT / 3pm CET. Much like the last news drop, this announcement will only be a trailer, but we’re sure that there will be plenty of reveals in store. You’ll find the precise time that th…

EA Sports and Codemasters have been churning out yearly Formula One games for a while now, and it looks like it's time for a shake up. The publisher has announced its plans for the next couple of years of the franchise, and in a nutshell, it's skipping a new, standalone game in 2026, instead opting to overhaul the series for a big return in 2027. The 2026 season won't go completely unrepresented, however, as a paid expansion for F1 25 will be released in lieu of a full new game. "Today, EA SPORTS confirms future plans for F1 25, with the game set to represent both the 2025 and 2026 FIA Formula One World Championships," reads the update on the official website. "This news …