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Publisher Fireshine Games and developer Pugstorm dazzled us with the gorgeous survival sandbox game Core Keeper back in September last year, and today they have announced that more is on the way in the shape of a swanky new Switch 2 Edition. Arriving on 28th January, you can expect this one to feature beefed-up graphical fidelity and frame rate (targeting 60fps), as well as a bunch of visual tweaks in the lighting, shadow, water quality and particle effect departments to keep things looking super sleek. What's more, the Switch 2 version will include native eight-player co-op — a substantial step up from the original's four — and anyone can get involved with a session, even if you're playing on Switch 1 (assuming the session is being hosted by a S2 player, of course). And the best part of all: this Switch 2 Edition upgrade will be completely free for those who already own the game on the old hardware! The good news doesn't end there either. Fireshine Games and Pugstorm have also announced that the free 'Volt & Voltage' update will be arriving on all systems on the very same day. This packs in a new biome to explore, fresh enemy types and bosses, and a bunch of cool new weapons. It promises to be a rather beefy one, so if you've been looking for an excuse to dive back in, this might just be the perfect opportunity. Images: Fireshine Games In our review of the original Switch 1 release, we called Core Keeper "a wonderfully engaging and mysterious survival sandbox that is tough to put down once it gets its hooks in you," and it's certainly one to watch if you're a fan of Minecraft or Terraria. Bring on even more in January!

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond marks a completely new story where the legendary bounty hunter Samus Aran is unexpectedly transported to the unknown planet Viewros. As you've probably already seen, she's also joined by a team of Galactic Federation soldiers. In the same recently published article on Nintendo's Japanese website, there's an official introduction to the team of soldiers who have also been transported to the same location. Throughout this new adventure, Samus will work and fight alongside all of these characters to return home alive. If you don't want any spoilers, you might want to navigate away from this page right now. Below is a look at each of the Galactic Federation soldiers and a description. Apart from MacKenzie's description (based on the in-game logbook which has already been shared online), the other descriptions are translated from Nintendo's website. Here's what you can expect: Myles MacKenzie Image: Nintendo Tokabi Image: Nintendo Sergeant 'Duke' Image: Nintendo Private First Class 'Armstrong' Image: Nintendo Android 'VUE-995' Image: Nintendo Samus and the teamNintendo has also shared some more screenshots, cinematics and gameplay of Samus with the team, which you can see at the top of this page, and in the screenshots and video below: Images: Nintendo Images: Nintendo Images: Nintendo

Whether you're a veteran of the series or just starting out, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond will have a difficult to match your skill. In a new article on the official Japanese Nintendo website, the difficulty settings in Samus' new mission on Planet Viewros have been detailed. When you start this adventure, you will be able to select from either a 'casual' or 'normal' mode. Casual mode will lower enemy HP and reduce the amount of damage Samus takes, and is recommended for first-time players. And as you probably guessed, normal mode offers the standard Metroid Prime experience. If you want a tougher challenge, once normal mode is cleared, you'll unlock hard mode. If you've played previous entries such as Metroid Prime Remastered, these difficulty settings shouldn't come as a surprise. The same post has also detailed how players will also be able to adjust certain other in-game settings. This includes the ability to fine-tune the sensitivity of the analog and mouse controls, which can help if you're struggling with movement or aiming. You'll also be able to adjust the screen display and volume settings to your liking. You can see what else Nintendo has revealed about Metroid Prime 4: Beyond in our previous coverage.

Once Mecha Man, the superhero behind an armoured suit, Robert Robertson finds himself working for the Superhero Dispatch Network (SDN). This follows a mission where the suit was wrecked. Now working as a dispatcher, he is in charge of managing and strategising a roster of heroes to handle emergencies across Los Angeles. However, he is not overseeing a regular group of heroes. The Z-team, as they are known, is made up of former villains. On top of attempting to create a synergistic team with this bunch of misfits, Robert will have to juggle between office politics, personal relationships and rebuilding his suit. The outcome will rely on your decisions. From flailing superhero to superhero managerDispatch flips the superhero script. Instead of donning a cape, you sit behind a desk and manage chaos behind the scenes. It’s a simple yet original concept that helps us, mere humans, relate better to the plot. Across its eight episodes, it keeps the right balance of comedy, drama, character development and superhero action. The need to see through the misfit team of supervillains-turned-superheroes and get up to speed with the evolving in-game relationships kept me hooked to the game. I was totally invested in the plot as it evolved, not unlike a soap opera. Once I completed an episode, I couldn’t wait to jump onto the next. Each is well paced, at around 1 hour per episode, which feels like the right length, although I felt it breezed past me. My interest in this game was surprising, as I am not particularly drawn to the superhero genre, and I'm also not a fan of episodic structure. It attests to the excellent execution of the narrative, despite basing itself on a familiar genre. While it does have some narrative hiccups and overused tropes, especially in the final stretch, the writing sticks the landing. It is much better executed than other recent episodic titles like Lost Records: Bloom and Rage. The star-studded cast also helps bring the characters to life. From Breaking Bad’s Aaron Paul to Westworld’s Jeffrey Wright and Critical Role members (as well as a few YouTubers), the Z-team is excellently portrayed. Its cartoon-style aesthetics are a right fit for its setting. The animation is also on point, with action scenes packing a punch and characters’ feelings acutely conveyed in their body language. Despite the kid-friendly look, it is not exactly PG-certified as the game doesn’t hesitate to indulge in gore and adult themes. Think of it more akin to Invincible rather than Teen Titans. The Telltale DNAWhile Dispatch is AdHoc Studio’s debut game, the development team includes writers and directors of Tales from the Borderlands and The Wolf Among Us; and it shows. The Telltale Games DNA is apparent in this title. From the episodic structure to the branching narrative design, Dispatch feels like a Telltale game in the best ways. While Telltale games are traditionally more involved, allowing you to control the main character, Dispatch feels more like a visual novel. You don’t actively control Robert, but are watching the events unfold. But it wouldn’t be totally fair to call it a visual novel as Dispatch is more involved than one. You are frequently presented with timed choices, which often lead to branching narrative paths and, ultimately, the ending that you experience. Decisions can vary in their weight, from choosing how to pose as Mecha Man to making moves towards a romantic partner. These add a layer of urgency in the heat of the action. However, the timed mechanic can feel overwhelming. As the countdown begins in the middle of a conversation, you might be tempted to jump on an option before getting the full context at the sight of the depleting timer. The game also includes optional QTEs during cutscenes. These can be toggled off, as it is the narrative choices that matter. In the shoes of a superhero dispatcherIn addition to narrative choices, another core mechanic is that of dispatching superheroes. While on a shift at SDN, you are given control of the dispatcher console. You have to decide which Z-team member to send on which mission, immersing you in the role of a superhero dispatcher. This is the most hands-on that the game gets. While the premise sounds simple enough, dispatching involves considerable strategising and hero management. You will have to assign heroes to missions that best suit their abilities. If not, they won't perform well, impacting their scores and upgrades. If they succeed, they earn skill points that you can use to upgrade their skills. In some missions, more than one hero can be assigned. This can lead to complementary skills, increasing your chances of success. But to successfully implement such strategies, you will have to know your team members and pay close attention to the requirements of the mission. Similarly, in-between missions, some unexpected events can happen; you need to choose between some options, and knowing your hero’s strengths and weaknesses will help in making the right decision. For example, if Flambae has been trapped en route for a mission, it's better to use an offensive or explosive option rather than one that requires intellect Somehow, this gameplay aspect reminded me of the likes of football managers. Luckily, Dispatch does a great job at smoothly onboarding you as the newest dispatcher, so the learning curve doesn’t feel particularly steep. Heroes also engage in conversation during missions, breaking the monotony and making the universe feel lively. There are also occasional hacking puzzles sprinkled in some missions, which help in diversifying the gameplay. Dispatch: behind-the-scenes heroismDispatch is a witty and enjoyable superhero story with a layer of strategising mechanics that rethinks heroism from behind the scenes. Its absorbing workplace dramedy, combined with light management sim and impactful narrative choices, creates a unique hybrid that sticks the (superhero) landing. Even if the superhero genre doesn’t pique your interest, it’s well worth trying out Dispatch now that all of its episodes are available. Dispatch | Official Launch Trailer

POOLS is more of an experience than a game. You can technically see it through to completion in about an hour. But amid the brevity of our time with it, there's a palpable sense of atmosphere that'll leave you on edge. POOLS is an off-kilter horror walking simulator where you must navigate complex mazes of tiled hallways, pools, and slides. There are no enemies. There’s no time limit. There are no mechanics beyond walking or running around these hallways. But the game taps into the niche liminal horror of the "Backrooms" concept, oscillating between tight dark corridors and abnormally large spaces, with bright water slides almost acting as jump scares. There’s something incredibly unnerving about the game’s six levels, which expertly manage to scare the crap out of you without any form of traditional "scary" stuff. It's purely vibes, and they'll soak into your skin. Visually, it's a real looker on the PS5 and PS5 Pro, emphasised by a brilliant use of lighting. The sound design, too, though minimal, can really raise the hairs on the back of your neck. We scoffed at the game’s approach when we first booted it up, but within 20 minutes, we were twitching at the nearby sounds of sloshing water, and nervously approaching giant inflatable ducks as they bobbed around. There's no score here, so you almost start to think you're hearing things as you wade through the water. It’s a creepy experience on PS5, but it’s taken to a new level on PSVR2. Mechanically, there isn’t much difference other than the ability to physically climb up ladders with the use of the Sense controllers. However, Sony’s headset really lends itself to the scale of the game. We peered down seemingly endless pits, and twitched around to the sight of ladders being tucked into vents by unseen beings. And there's next to no visual disparity between PSVR2 and the flat screen version, making this one of the best visual showcases on Sony's headset. Similar to some other PSVR2 titles, like Kayak VR: Mirage, POOLS is a thin gameplay experience, but you aren’t there for that. You’re there to be transported somewhere else. In Kayak VR, it's beautiful vistas. In POOLS, it’s creepy tiled hallways. So while it’s a short-lived experience, it’s one we couldn’t help but admire. It certainly caters to a niche audience, but it quickly creates a unique and tense atmosphere that plays with your head, even more so when you have the PSVR2 strapped to it.

Just two weeks to the day after its PS5, PS4 release, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is already on sale on the PS Store. This is a separate offer from the huge PS Store Black Friday sale, and it's only live until midnight on Tuesday, 2nd December 2025. Between now and then, you can save 15% on the base version of the game, making it £59.49 / $59.49. This is an incredibly quick turnaround from a full-priced release to a sale, with the game having only been available for 14 days. Compared to past entries in the series, Black Ops 7 has been selling poorly and below the expectations of Activision. Its main competitor, Battlefield 6, is comfortably outselling it, and it's recording the franchise's worst launch in history in some countries. In our Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 PS5 review, we gave the game a 6/10 and concluded: "The most ridiculous Call of Duty has ever been, all of Black Ops 7’s multiplayer strengths are overshadowed by the silliest campaign in the franchise’s history." Are you tempted to pick Black Ops 7 up at £10 / $10 cheaper? Let us know in the comments below.

Xbox's big Black Friday sale has been live for more than a week now, featuring some massive AAA titles from a broad range of publishers and developers. One game that seemingly missed the Black Friday boat — mostly due to its very recent release date — was Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, but Microsoft has decided to put it on special discount for the coming weekend only. Yep, live now on the Xbox Store (and indeed PlayStation Network), Black Ops 7 is currently 15% off; the game's first digital discount. The new Call of Duty title is on offer until December 1st, a few days before Xbox's main Black Friday sale ends on December 3rd. Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 Cross-Gen Bundle (Xbox Store) This perhaps isn't the best sign for the game's initial sales performance, given that it only came out two weeks ago today, but it is only 15% off - and the promotion runs for just three days in total. Either way, the sale is live now on both Xbox and PSN if anyone wants to grab a digital copy of the game.

If you’ve spent years of your life waiting for Metroid Prime 4, Silksong, or one of the many other highly anticipated games that spent substantial time on the horizon, just remember that it could always be worse — you could be an Inazuma Eleven fan. Developer Level-5’s RPG-tinged take on football (or soccer, if that’s your bag) started life back on the DS, where the original game and its sequels cemented the franchise’s status as a refreshingly wacky alternative to the hyper-grounded likes of genre counterparts like FIFA or Pro Evolution Soccer. That success continued into the 3DS era with the Inazuma Eleven: GO games, and in 2016 that the company revealed Inazuma Eleven: Ares as the franchise’s exciting next chapter. Unfortunately, Inazuma Eleven: Ares didn’t hit its original 2018 launch window target. It was delayed. And then delayed again. And again, again, again. As years went by, amid changes to the project in name, scope, and gameplay — and a frightening period in which a report indicated that Level-5 was pulling away from English game releases altogether — it was hard to hold out hope for Inazuma Eleven’s chances of returning to the field. Captured on Nintendo Switch 2 (Handheld/Undocked) Yet, here it is. Nearly 12 years since the last mainline entry, the newly-renamed Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road has finally been released on Switch, Switch 2, and other platforms. It’s more of a relief than anything to finally have it out, but can a game with such an agonising lead-up to launch possibly live up to the hype? I’m happy to report that this return to the classic football franchise mostly delivers the goods and then some. As with previous Inazuma Eleven titles, Victory Road’s big claim to fame is its core football gameplay. Across each of the game’s various modes, you build and customise teams of players with all sorts of specialised skills for the sole purpose of duking it out on the pitch against other teams. Matches follow the tried-and-true hallmarks of popular football games, with the added wrinkle of characters being able to pull off over-the-top, RPG-style moves that would most certainly get them disqualified in any sort of real-world scenario. It’s classic Inazuma Eleven gameplay at its finest, with a staggering level of system depth and customisability that will feel rewarding to veterans and, admittedly, a bit overwhelming to newcomers. Level-5 does an adequate job of spoonfeeding the game’s most basic mechanics via Story Mode and optional tutorials, but for every concept that’s clearly explained, there’s another that’s left annoyingly opaque. It’s no stretch to say that having a solid understanding, let alone mastery, of all of the game’s intricate systems can only be accomplished with a significant time investment. Captured on Nintendo Switch 2 (Handheld/Undocked) Fortunately, there are plenty of ways to spend time getting to know Victory Road. This long-awaited release can be summed up in one word: big. The game boasts two full-fat single-player campaigns, along with a bunch of side modes, including a social simulation-style town builder, as well as a robust PvP ecosystem for online matches. It’s not strictly necessary to start with one particular mode over the others, but Story Mode feels like the most solid landing spot to start your journey. It follows new series protagonist Destin Billows (or Unmei Sasanami if you toggle to the Romanised Japanese character names), a teenager and new transfer to Nagumohara Junior High School. A former child athlete who was diagnosed with a heart condition, Destin has turned his back on his dream of playing football. However, a series of chance encounters with his new classmates reignites his passion for the sport, and he embarks on a challenging quest to restore the school’s long-neglected football club, build a team of unlikely star athletes, and take on Japan’s finest: Raimon. Captured on Nintendo Switch 2 (Handheld/Undocked) You control Destin and progress the plot via world exploration, traditional RPG-style battles, athlete-training minigames, and, of course, football matches. While the format will feel familiar to anyone who’s played an RPG before, and the mode-specific mechanics are pretty basic, it’s a solid little adventure that spices up the core football gameplay with a bunch of other activities. It also tells quite the compelling tale, with a cast of likeable, well-developed characters and a whole host of surprisingly emotional story beats. The production values are high as well, as the story features full English and Japanese voice-acting, a grandiose soundtrack, and a ton of beautiful, fully-animated cutscenes courtesy of anime studio MAPPA. If there’s a major downside to Victory Road’s Story Mode, it’s that the pacing is all over the place. While it’s nice to have such a meaty campaign to progress through, there’s a feeling at times that everything is more long-winded than it needs to be. The basic RPG battles and minigames, while generally entertaining, can get pretty repetitive by the time the late-game grind sets in. There’s one point in the story where you’re scouting new team members, and you have to play the same slow-paced passing minigame a whopping 15 times in a row. Some of the fat could have been trimmed here. Captured on Nintendo Switch 2 (Docked) Perhaps Story Mode’s most egregious pacing issue, however, is that it takes a surprisingly long time to actually start playing football matches with any level of frequency. The start of the mode is still entertaining enough on its own, but, strangely, you have to spend a decent handful of hours before football matches start factoring into the story in any meaningful capacity. That said, once it really gets going, Story Mode is a pretty fun ride all the way through its satisfying conclusion. If Story Mode wasn’t enough, Victory Road also features a secondary campaign with its own distinct story and progression in the way of Chronicle Mode. This follows Victorio Cryptix, a boy from a post-apocalyptic future who travels to the past to assemble a team of the best football players from Inazuma Eleven history in the hopes of stopping the threat to his time. Victorio’s journey retells the events of all six previous Inazuma Eleven mainline entries in visual novel format, and sees you progressing through all of the major story matches from each game. In essence, Chronicle Mode contains abridged versions of the series’ entire history of campaigns — an impressive feat that will tide voracious players over with hours upon hours of content. Captured on Nintendo Switch 2 (Handheld/Undocked) That said, the mode can feel rather repetitive as it lacks Story Mode's gameplay variety and requires that each match be completed twice (once with a set story team and once with your own custom team) to progress. Additionally, crucial bits of context for each historic match are often glossed over, making it far from the ideal way to experience previous games' narratives. It’s hard to complain too much, though, as having a bunch of the franchise’s history easily accessible in any form feels like gravy more than anything else. If you’re still not satisfied, beyond the game’s two main campaigns are a plethora of side modes to sink even more time into. Battle Bay Stadium features playable dream matches between powerful teams from series history. Kizuna Station allows you to build your own Bond Town with collectible items and objects and interact with other players off the pitch. Meanwhile, Competition Mode lets you play free matches against the computer or other players online, testing the mettle of your hard-trained team. Captured on Nintendo Switch 2 (Docked) Crucially, progression in most of Victory Road’s modes feeds into each other as you share obtained characters, items, and currencies within your central profile. That means that there’s really no wrong way to pass your time, and this freedom of choice in how you interact with its wealth of riches is commendable. Unfortunately, the game has far too many segmented currencies for obtaining items and summoning new characters to your roster, and determining what to do to gain a certain currency is way more complicated than it needs to be. Performance-wise, Victory Road runs very smoothly on the Switch 2 with no visible frame-rate drops from its 60fps target during my time playing. Controlling everything feels just as responsive as it should. The game also looks decent graphically, though there’s a disappointing amount of shimmer in the background of various environments. Thankfully, the game’s clean and colourful art style keeps its visual identity strong and enjoyable to look at. ConclusionHaving more content does not necessarily equal a better game, but there’s no denying that Inazuma Eleven: Victory Road’s massive wealth of modes, options, and gameplay variety make it feel like the franchise’s most premium experience yet. Between a fun and heartfelt story mode, a second story mode that includes the highlights of all previous games, and a bunch of additional side content along with robust PvP systems for longevity, it really does feel like you could play Victory Road forever. At the end of the day, though, it all comes down to that core loop of teambuilding and playing football matches, and Victory Road’s take on the series’ trademark RPG-esque customisability and intuitive action on the pitch feels just as fresh and stylish as ever. Perhaps all those delays really were worth it.

Little Rocket Lab is a sweet pixel art automation game from No More Robots and Teenage Astronauts. It arrived on Steam and Xbox last month, and we have been wondering when a Switch release would follow ever since. Well, it's coming real soon. What's more, there's a Switch 2 Edition in tow. Little Rocket Lab - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition, and its Switch 1 counterpart, will be available on the eShop from 10th December for £15.99 / $19.99 (or as a free upgrade for those who make the jump between systems down the road), and it boasts some pretty slick performance on the new hardware. Alongside the promise of boosted resolution, Teenage Astronauts have also got things running at a sweet 120fps — so you know those conveyor belts are going to be looking smooth as anything. It's not necessarily the kind of game that we can imagine being drastically impacted by a triple-figure frame rate, but S2 Editions hitting those upper reaches are always a welcome sight. For those curious, this is a chilled little factory-building game, where you set out to transform your rundown family home into a prime site for rocket construction. To do so, you'll have to lay down transport, delegate machinery, and make the most of your surrounding resources, all while keeping the locals happy. You'll find a brief rundown of the game's key features and a handful of screenshots below: Images: No More Robots The first half of December is looking particularly rammed at the moment, but if you're after something to kick back with between the stresses of Metroid Prime 4 and Assassin's Creed Shadows, this might just end up fitting the bill.