Latest Features - Page 3
Feature This 007 Game You Didn't Play Was Basically PS2's Uncharted
Shaken, not stirred
With IO’s uber-exciting 007 First Light now hours away, I wanted to spotlight a James Bond game you’ve probably never played: Quantum of Solace. No, I’m not talking about Treyarch’s Call of Duty-esque first-person shooter, but Eurocom’s underrated PS2 adaptation, which plays a lot like Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune...
Guide These 20+ New PS5 Games Are Coming Out This Week (25th-31st May)
007 First Light! Mina the Hollower! Poppy Playtime!
We’re slowly approaching the cool summer period, but there’s still a ton of games coming out in the last week of May. The big’un this time is 007 First Light, of course, but spare a thought for Mina the Hollower. Personally, I’m really looking forward to both. Here's everything coming out...
Feature Last Chance to Buy These 25+ PS5, PS4 Games in PS Store's Next Level Savings Sale
Recommended PS5 and PS4 games going cheap
After an unusual hiatus, the Next Level Savings sale arrived, but it's only live for a couple more days. Running until 27th May, you don't have long to grab a bargain. As always, there are thousands of PS5 and PS4 games included in the offer, which means it can be a bit laborious browsing through it all...
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 634
Bright and breezy
I’m not sure about your part of the world, but the weather’s finally turning here in the UK. It was hail last weekend, and bright sunshine this one. Of course, I’ll be staying inside playing video games – but what about you? Jamie O'Neill: I'm staying with family for a while, but I was sure to pack my ever reliable PS...
Reaction I'm Sad It's Over, But Destiny's End Was Overdue
See you Starside, Guardian
This week we learned that the summer update for Destiny 2 will be its last. And as I read through Bungie’s blog, I couldn’t help but feel a mixture of conflicting emotions, namely sadness and relief. Across both the original Destiny and Destiny 2, I have wracked up over 1,500 hours with the series, enjoying each of...
Talking Point Sony, Don't Re-Reveal Fairgames at the Next State of Play
It's not going to end well
I don’t want to be that guy, but I’m going to give Sony some free advice: do not, under any circumstances, attempt to reintroduce Fairgames at next month’s State of Play. It doesn’t matter how good the game looks and how much confidence you have in Haven’s work, I’m telling you right here and now: it’s not...
Reaction Sony's Big State of Play Must Deliver as PS5 Perception Sinks to an All-Time Low
Don't mention live service
It's been a console generation of serious ups and downs for PlayStation, and it feels like a lot of those downs have come over the last couple of years. It's not controversial to say that Sony's been taking Ls for quite some time — the general perception of PlayStation as a brand, and by extension the PS5, has nosedived...
Hands On It's No GunCon, But I'm Having a Blast with Time Crisis' PS5 Gyro Controls
Clock off
I’ll be brutally honest, I was a Virtua Cop guy growing up. Don’t get me wrong, I had a lot of fun playing Time Crisis in the arcade, but I didn’t actually have it at home. I had the Virtua Gun for the SEGA Saturn y’see, so a lot of my youth was spent blasting through AM2’s rails shooter. I bought a GunCon and Time Crisis off...
Hands On The Adventures of Elliot Fixes My Biggest Problem with Square Enix's Modern RPGs
Pace race
A lot of you reading this won't agree, but I think almost every single 'smaller' RPG that Square Enix has released over the last decade or so suffers from the same problem: bad pacing. To be fair, this isn't just a Square Enix problem. Modern gaming in general seriously struggles to tell well-paced stories thanks to the rise of open world...
Poll Sony's Killing Its PS5 PC Ports - But Do You Agree with Its Decision?
Single player games will be fully exclusive again
It’s been a tumultuous day for PS5, underpinned by a PS Plus price increase and confirmation that Sony’s cancelling PC ports of its single player games. While the company hasn’t made a statement, word comes by way of Bloomberg journalist Jason Schreier, reporting
Feature 'It Should Be Free to Play Online Games': PS Plus Price Squeeze Taken to Task by PS5 Owners
"I'll just play on PC I guess"
I think you can learn a lot about PS Plus Essential’s latest price hike by looking at which options are going up. Sony is only increasing the one-month and three-month subscriptions; it’s not making any changes to the annual option. Furthermore, this change will only affect new or lapsed customers; if you’re...
Round Up Disco Elysium's Controversial 'Sequel' Met with Rave Reviews
Zero Parades: For Dead Spies reviews are in
Zero Parades: For Dead Spies is out this week on PC, and so critic reviews are starting to trickle in. It was always going to be interesting to see how this one's received, since it's technically the successor to Disco Elysium — one of the most highly regarded RPGs of the last decade or so. However,...
Guide These 24+ New PS5 and PS Plus Games Are Coming Out This Week (18th-24th May)
LEGO Batman! Bubsy 4D! Warhammer!
It’s a big week this week for PS5 owners and PS Plus subscribers alike, with tons of new titles launching. Among the highlights, we’d obviously point to LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight. But spare a thought for Bubsy 4D and Warhammer 40k: Speed Freeks, both of which could be pleasant surprises. There’s...
Feature 15 Years Ago Today, We All Pushed Square to Doubt
Remembering detective game L.A. Noire
L.A. Noire, the innovative 1940s PS3 crime caper from Australian studio Team Bondi, is 15 years old today. The classic detective game – eventually published by Rockstar in 2011, but originally announced by Sony as a PS3 exclusive several years earlier – leaned heavily into its groundbreaking (at the time)...
Poll Would You Buy an inFAMOUS Collection for PS5?
It'd be electric
The first two inFAMOUS games are classics in the PS3 library, and there’s no great way to play them on modern hardware. Rumour has it that Sony is working with an unnamed developer to bring them to the PS5, although the source says he’s only received word from one person in particular, and hasn’t been able to corroborate the...
Feature Going Platinum: I Legit Forgot This Tiny, Unique PS4 Game Exists
It's called Arrog
Platinum Trophy #26: Arrog Date Earned: 4th February 2021 Dopamine Index: stars:1 This is probably the most common platinum Trophy I have. I just looked at the list on my console, and 80.4% of players have earned the plat in Arrog. What the heck is Arrog, I hear you ask? Well, if I'm being completely honest with you, I had...
Poll Are You Happy with Your PS Plus Extra, Premium Games for May 2026?
Plus or minus?
The general consensus around PS Plus Extra seems to be that Sony's middle-tier subscription is actually really good, offering up a consistently strong lineup of PS5 and PS4 software. And we can't see that perception changing this month, as the games for May 2026 range from genuinely great to "hmmm, I should give that a go". Red Dead...
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 633
Soft fantasy
It’s not been the most eventful week really, but you can’t knock a coconut down every time, eh? At least there are no shortage of games to play. Jamie O'Neill: Four years have flown by since Success’ Cotton Fantasy released on PS4 in May 2022, and it's worth a 45 minute blast through this cute-'em-up to rock out to its...
Round Up Forza Horizon 6 Pulls Incredible Launch Reviews, PS5 Version Still to Come
92 rating on Metacritic
Forza Horizon 6 releases for Xbox Series X|S and PC next week, and the reviews for the initial launch version of the title suggest anyone picking up the PS5 version later in the year is in for a proper treat. From over 60 critic reviews, a Metacritic average of 92 considers it a "must play" following "universal acclaim"...
Feature What Do You Want from a May 2026 State of Play Showcase?
PS5's first and third parties covered, and what about PS6?
Unless it breaks around seven years of tradition, Sony will host a State of Play showcase in the next couple of weeks. It usually packs its showcases taking place in May (or the very start of June) with the biggest reveals the program has to offer, so excitement is generally high...
Poll Is Saros Better Than Returnal?
Total eclipse
Saros has been out for over a week now on PS5, and we're guessing that plenty of you will have seen most of what Housemarque's latest has to offer. While not an out-and-out direct sequel, Saros is still the successor to Returnal — a title that many would argue was, and still is, one of the PS5's most poignant experiences. Saros...
Guide These 8+ New PS5, PS4 Games Are Coming Out This Week (4th-10th May)
Directive 8020! Rugrats: Retro Rewind! Harvest Moon!
Phew! Quality over quantity folks, and we do have a couple of interesting new PS5 games coming out this week. Specifically, the latest game from Until Dawn dev Supermassive Games has caught our eye: the sci-fi space horror effort Directive 8020. Look out for a review of that soon. We’re also...
Feature Going Platinum: Astro's Playroom Was the Perfect PS5 Appetiser
Blast off
Platinum Trophy #25: Astro's Playroom Date Earned: 21st November 2020 Dopamine Index: stars:5 Much has already been said about PS5's tremendous pack-in platformer, Astro's Playroom, but it's the next game on my Going Platinum list, so here's another few hundred words about how great it is. Odds are that, if you own a PS5, you've...
Poll Uncharted 4 Turns 10 Years Old, But Is It the Series' Peak?
Uncharted territory
Uncharted 4: A Thief's End turns 10 years old today, which also means that it's been an entire decade since we got a new Uncharted game (not counting sort-of-spin-off Uncharted: The Lost Legacy). Lauded at the time of its release back in 2016, Uncharted 4 is still considered one of the PS4's best. And for many, it remains the...
Game of the Month Pragmata (April 2026)
As voted by you
Well, that one just flew by, didn't it? April seemed a bit back-loaded, with the likes of Saros — Sony's latest first-party exclusive — dropping on the final day, but in hindsight, it was a pretty strong month from the start. Aside from Housemarque's intense and enjoyably broody action-shooter, the other headline act was...
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 632
Mixin' it up
Another busy week has come to a conclusion, and so it’s time to settle down with some good ol’ games. As always, we’ll go first, then it’s all over to you. Jamie O'Neill: Another read of Stephen's Scott Pilgrim EX Mini Review is in order, because as soon as I get home on Sunday night the seal on my physical copy of Scott...
Hands On Leon Must Die Forever Isn't Worth Going Back to RE Requiem For
But it's free, so no harm done
Resident Evil has a storied history with mini games, from the Tofu mode of Resident Evil 2 on PS1 right the way through to the fan-favourite Mercenaries add-on that's shipped with multiple instalments. Almost every mainline title is treated to its own spin-off from the main game, and now Resident Evil Requiem has one:...
Fatality
If you’re like us, then you’ll have a deep appreciation for 1995’s iconic Mortal Kombat movie. The 2021 reboot, directed by Simon McQuoid, couldn’t really capture the same campy energy – but its sequel, starring Karl Urban as washed-up action movie star Johnny Cage, looks like it’s off to a much stronger start. As we write...
Feature Lifelong Bethesda Fan Finally Answers: Does Starfield Actually Suck?
A star is unborn
So, I finally played Starfield. For 85 hours, no less. And honestly, just about everything I had read or heard about the game prior to playing turned out to be true. I think Starfield is both an evolution of Bethesda's core game design and a significant downgrade from the studio's established open world structure. In short, I think...
Preview PS5's LEGO Batman Rivals the Arkham Classics in IP Love Letter
Three hours of play with Batman and friends
TT Games has been going considerably bigger and substantially better with its latest LEGO titles, and the work is paying off in a new Batman effort reminiscent of the Arkham classics. LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight doesn't adapt any single film or series involving Bruce Wayne. Rather, it's a...
Feature Last Chance to Buy These 25+ PS5, PS4 Games in PS Store's Weekend Offer Sale (Europe)
Games going cheap this weekend
The European PS Store's Weekend Offer sale ends in a matter of hours, concluding just before midnight tonight, 4th May 2026, so you don't have long left to take advantage. This limited-time deal includes hundreds of PS5 and PS4 games brought down in price, and there are some great titles in there of all shapes and...
Guide These 12+ New PS5, PS4, and PS Plus Games Are Coming Out This Week (4th-10th May)
MOTORSLICE! Wax Heads! Mixtape!
Wow, slowest week of the year so far? It’s got to be! There’s really not a lot to look forward to this time around. We do think parkour platformer MOTORSLICE looks decent; Mixtape looks like a strong coming of age story, too. At least there’s your new PS Plus Essential games to download. Here's everything...
Feature Last Chance to Buy These 45+ PS5, PS4 Games in PS Store's Big Games Big Deals Sale
Discounted PS5 and PS4 games we recommend
The latest sale on the PS Store is live now, but not for much longer; you have until 6th May 2026 to grab your bargains. Named the Big Games Big Deals sale, it has thousands of PS5 and PS4 games included, and that can make it tough to find the stuff you want. In this list, we've put together a smaller...
Feature Going Platinum: I Replayed This PS4 Metroidvania on Hard Mode and Loved Every Second
Or should it be Mex-troidvania
Platinum Trophy #24: Guacamelee! 2 Date Earned: 18th November 2020 Dopamine Index: stars:3 You don't often hear the Guacamelee series come up in conversations about the best Metroidvania games nowadays, but I really think it deserves that recognition. I love both of these silly luchador adventures. They're both so...
Poll Are You Happy with Your PS Plus Essential Games for May 2026?
Plus or minus?
As per usual, three PS5 and PS4 games are up for grabs through PS Plus Essential in May. Sony's entry-level subscription has been pretty solid in 2026 so far, and we think this is another decent selection — albeit with a caveat or two. For starters, EA Sports FC 26 is the headline act. Obviously, the annual football sim —...
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 631
Come back stronger
Phew, it's been a big week in PlayStation, with Saros finally dropping a few days ago. Has the latest from Housemarque made its way onto your weekend itinerary at all? Aaron Bayne: I'm actually going to check out Replaced on my Steam Deck this weekend! Jamie O'Neill: I've been on holiday in Derbyshire during the last week,...
Poll One Year Later, Did Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Deserve All the Praise?
For those who come after
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 celebrated its first anniversary earlier this week (how time flies!), and although the RPG ended up being one of the most highly-praised releases of the generation, we just can't help but wonder if opinions have changed now that we're 12 months down the line. Taking a moment to look back on...
Preview 007 First Light: A Full Debrief After 3 Hours with IO's New James Bond Game
Shaken, not stirred
MISSION SUMMARY: London. A stone’s throw from King’s Cross. Crowds were too busy taking photos of Platform 9¾, so the setting was suitably discreet. The only potential threat: a Tube Strike on the same day. The briefing was succinct. Hands-on with 007 First Light, a new training simulation developed by IO Interactive. I...
Poll Are You Sold on Assassin's Creed: Black Flag's PS5 Remake?
Raise the sales
It may have leaked all over the place ahead of its official announcement, but it feels like the reveal of Assassin's Creed: Black Flag Resynced has gone down really well with just about everyone. Associated videos have already racked up millions of views on YouTube, and from where we're sitting, the positivity has been shockingly...
Feature Is Starfield's Crashing Finally Fixed on PS5?
Wish upon a Starfield
At this point we really shouldn't be surprised, but Bethesda somehow managed to release a borderline broken game on PS5, over two full years removed from its initial launch on other platforms. Now, to be clear, Starfield's crashing issues have not impacted every player — but reports have been so widespread and so numerous...
Guide These 23+ New PS5, PS4 Games Are Coming Out This Week (27th-3rd May)
Saros! Invincible VS! NTE!
It’s an absolutely gigantic week on the PS5 and PS4 this week, but two titles will probably take the bulk of the headlines. We’re obviously talking about first-party giga-hit Saros and fighting game Invincible VS. Spare a moment for the GTA-inspired gacha game NTE, too. Here's everything coming out this week. New...
"I hope we're going to start calling them Returnal-likes at some point"
Saros is the latest game from Finnish developer Housemarque, a long-established team that's been making banger games for decades. We really love this follow-up to Returnal — it builds on it in some really great ways that make getting to the brilliant action more accessible...
Feature Going Platinum: I Went Full Trophy Sicko and Got the Bugsnax Platinum Twice on PS5 and PS4
Bunger king
Platinum Trophy #22 (and #23 I guess): Bugsnax Date Earned: 4th November 2020 (and also 25th November 2020) Dopamine Index: stars:4 I think it's here, with Bugsnax of all things, where I'm really beginning to let my inner Trophy hunter come to the fore. This is an interesting and odd one for a few reasons. Firstly, I reviewed Bugsnax...
Feature Meet the Man Making PS5 Manuals for Your Physical Games
Book it
No doubt like many of you, poring over PS1 manuals in the back of the car is a core memory for me. I used to get so excited for my latest game that I’d read the booklet from cover-to-cover, eagerly devouring as much information as I possibly could in anticipation of playing when I got home. Sadly, in this increasingly digital era, manuals...
Round Up Saros PS5 Reviews Rate It as One of the Best Games of 2026
Come back stronger
It looks like Housemarque has done it again, as its latest game Saros is a smash hit with critics. The PS5 exclusive shooter has attracted near-unanimous praise, with reviews that are practically glowing pretty much everywhere you look. The reviews are strong enough to put it comfortably among the top-rated games of 2026 so far...
Talking Point What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 630
Take your pick
It's raining games again, and we're all busy playing various different things here at Push Square Towers. That means we've got a pretty varied WAYP this week. Graham Banas: A big ol' VR weekend for me this time out. Between working on the new Little Nightmares game and finally pulling the trigger on Metro: Awakening on the heels of...
Feature Xbox Is Flip-Flopping on PS5 Again, and It's Truly Getting Tiring
Pick a lane
There’s a deep irony to Xbox revealing it’s “re-evaluating” its PS5 strategy on the day co-dev Virtuos confirmed Forza Horizon 5 has sold five million copies on Sony’s console alone. Microsoft’s innate ability to build parasocial relationships with its biggest influencers temporarily too
Hands On The Expanse's PS5 RPG Has Serious Potential, But Its Protagonist Is a Big Problem
Ass Effect
I've played a small chunk of The Expanse: Osiris Reborn on PS5 thanks to the game's closed beta demo, and one thing's already clear: this sci-fi RPG has loads of potential. For those totally out of the loop, Osiris Reborn is based on The Expanse — a series of novels, and a subsequent TV show, both of which are widely lauded by genre...
Preview Genshin Impact Dev Takes on Animal Crossing with New Cozy Game
Surely it'll settle on PS5
Animal Crossing as a brand seems utterly unsurmountable, but if any company’s going to put the popular Nintendo property to the figurative sword, it’s HoYoverse. Having now played the Genshin Impact maker’s cosy effort for several hours, I certainly think it’s got a shot. Petit Planet, as the game is rather...
Round Up This PS5 Game Changes Based on Other Players, and Reviewers Are Liking It
Tides of Tomorrow attracting plenty of praise
A new PS5 adventure is attracting acclaim for its novel concept: your world changes based on other players’ decisions. In the upcoming Tides of Tomorrow, you’ll follow in the footsteps of real players, with their actions shaping everything from environments to character behaviour. This is a really...
