Latest Previews
October2026
Much Ado about everything
Last week, SEGA invited me down to London to go hands-on with its upcoming historical action game Stranger Than Heaven one final time before its launch on 15th January, 2027. This was my third time playing the game, but while previous demos had focused solely on the combat, here I was able to get a taste of the wider...
Preview Phantom Blade Zero Is the Next Truly Essential PS5 Game
A six-hour deep dive into the action title
All bets are off once GTA 6 comes out, but in the weeks leading up to it, you have to let Phantom Blade Zero take up all of your free time. I played six hours of the game on a trip to Beijing, China (more on that in the future) and found it to be one of the most confident and impressive Western debuts from...
September2026
Preview PS5 Remake Danganronpa 2x2 Revives the Cult Series with a Shocking New Mode
Pointing things out
I vividly remember my first taste of Danganronpa. I’d brought the PS Vita version of Trigger Happy Havoc with me on holiday to a remote part of Wales, and I spent the next two or three days cosied up in a rustic cottage, absorbed by its anime world and courtroom drama. Objection! Wait, wrong franchise? Monokuma quickly...
Preview Ascendance Has Me Hyped to Obsess Over Monster Hunter Wilds Again
Mmm, so tasty!
When Capcom announced Monster Hunter Wilds’ upcoming expansion, Ascendance, would be playable at Tokyo Game Show, it immediately became the top title on my list to get my claws into. Monster Hunter has been one of my favourite video game series since Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate launched back in 2013, and it’s been incredible seeing...
Preview Don't Sleep on Fate/Extra Record - This Story-Driven PS5 RPG Shows Real Promise
Yes, master
I've been keeping an eye on Fate/Extra Record for years at this point, so when the game was finally handed a confirmed release date a couple of weeks back, I was over the moon (pun very slightly intended). The good news didn't stop there, though. Not long after the big reveal, publisher Aniplex invited me to an extended preview of the...
Shibuya cross
SEGA’s really giving us unprecedented pre-release access to Crazy Taxi: World Tour, the 2027 revival of AM3’s all-time classic arcade ferry-’em-up. Back at Gamescom I spoke to director Kenji Kanno before getting my hands on the new Germ
Bittersweet
Even though I don’t think its PS5 re-release is very good, I’ll always have a soft spot for Lollipop Chainsaw on the PS3. Written by James Gunn and directed by Suda51, the crass Grasshopper Manufacture bubblegum beat-’em-up had an intoxicating identity – with an inexplicable budget from Warner Bros to match its ambitions. Now...
Preview Silver Palace Is a Gorgeous Gothic PS5 RPG, But So Far I've Played It Before
London's burning
Oh no, here I am again writing about another upcoming free-to-play RPG that’s sure to attract some sensible comments. Well, look, I pressed pause on Silver Palace for over a week so you’ve had plenty of time to recover from my Ananta and Honkai: Nexus Anima reports. Furthermore, the team was gracious enough to give me a...
Preview Crazy Taxi: World Tour's Beta Test Transported Me Back to a Bygone Era of Online Multiplayer
It's a fare cop
This past weekend, SEGA hosted a closed network test for its upcoming arcade driving game, Crazy Taxi: World Tour. This was my first opportunity to get my hands on it — a revival of a true arcade classic, and exactly the kind of game I want to see making a return. As a big fan of the original, I couldn't resist taking the network...
Stupid (me) does die
Stupid Never Dies is a much deeper game than it initially seemed. I’d only briefly come across some promotional material for GPTRACK50’s zombie-based roguelike by the time I sat down to play it at Gamescom. So to say I was surprised when some of its developers walked me through its extensive gameplay system would be putting...
Preview The Expanse: Osiris Reborn Is What Fans of the Books and Show Have Been Waiting For
Remember the Cant
The Expanse: Osiris Reborn is an upcoming PS5 RPG that I’ve been keeping an eye on for a while. That’s mainly down to being a fan of The Expanse TV show – I’m even the owner of a dusty, unopened copy of the first book, Leviathan Wakes. I’m really keen to see how developer Owlcat Games brings this universe to life. Well,...
Preview Final Fantasy 7 Revelation on PS5 Is So Huge I Got Lost in Its Demo
Revelatory
I’ve touched Final Fantasy 7 Revelation on PS5 Pro, but I’ll be brutally honest with you: I’m not entirely sure how to approach this preview. At an event in London last week, Square Enix put me in control of the Highwind and set me free to explore the concluding instalment in its well-regarded remake trilogy. I had an hour to...
Preview Dragon Quest's Pokémon-Like Monster Game Could Be PS5's Perfect Cosy Escape
A nice change of pace
It’s looking like a “Clash of the Titans” kinda November, with both Zelda and GTA 6 duking it out. (Not to mention the dozens upon dozens of other titles vying for your attention in September and October.) Dragon Quest Monsters: The Withered World may be the cosy kind
Preview Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis Has the Right Lara, But Something's Missing
Fool's gold?
I was excited to see Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis at Gamescom recently, because I wanted to see how Amazon was moving the franchise forward after the dour reboot saga from the PS4 generation. I got to watch a full 30-minute hands-off presentation, narrated by series stewards Crystal Dynamics and Polish dev Flying Wild Hog. But if...
Preview Alien Deathstorm Is Not the Sci-Fi Horror I Expected
Directive: investigate and survive
Alien Deathstorm isn’t what I expected. I assumed that the latest from Rebellion was a linear sci-fi shooter that had you blasting aliens in a cool setting. That’s partly true, I suppose, but as I start playing my brief 20-minute demo during Gamescom, I am surprised to find that this is a much less directed...
Preview Mega Man: Dual Override Is Legit, and I Know Because I Died 100 Times
Same old Rush with a new touch
I’ve always appreciated Mega Man from afar, but I’ve got to be brutally honest with you, I’ve never been the best player. Capcom’s specific brand of action platforming has always been a trifle too difficult for my tastes, but I’ve persevered with many of the titles over the years, and always appreciated...
Preview I Still Can't Believe This Insanely Ambitious PS5 Open World Is Real
More hands-on time with the remarkable Ananta
I’ve touched the ultra-ambitious anime open world game Ananta a couple of times now, and I still can’t quite believe it’s real. But it’s launching on 15th January, just weeks after the equally impressive GTA 6, setting up an exciting end to the PS5 generation for urban sandboxes. My demo, which...
Preview I Didn't Expect This Alice in Wonderland Roguelite to Be This Deep
Curiouser and curiouser
Regular readers will know I’m a little bit obsessed with Alice in Wonderland, so I was always going to give CRYMELIGHT the time of day. Launching on 5th November, this is one of the few titles to occupy the GTA 6 exclusion zone, which I personally find hilarious. Developed by FuRyu, this is a spiritual successor to...
Preview This Free Animal Crossing Rival Could Give Nintendo a Serious Headache
Bell me up, buttercup
I imagine HoYoverse is not expecting to immediately overcome Animal Crossing’s cultural impact. Characters like Tom Nook and K.K. Slider are video game icons, and it’s going to be practically impossible for Petit Planet to displace them. But I do think this cosy new effort from the Genshin Impact maker may have a shot at...
Preview Honkai: Nexus Anima Is HoYoverse at Its Weirdest, and PS5 Owners Need to See It
This Pokémon-inspired auto-battler is a treat
I’ve written a little bit about Honkai: Nexus Anima before, but I hope you’ll indulge me a little longer while I tell you about its latest build. I went hands-on at Gamescom, in Chinese dev HoYoverse’s business area. And while I was sceptical of this project when it was first announced, it
Preview Exodus on PS5 Could Be the Mass Effect Replacement I've Been Waiting For
Space is filled with sentient frogs and bears, apparently
Up until I went hands-on with Exodus at Gamescom, I thought it looked fine. Another sci-fi RPG trying to capture the magic of the Mass Effect series, citing the experience of former BioWare, Naughty Dog, and EA developers — and somehow, Matthew McConaughey is also involved. However, after...
Ten in 2010
I played the original Crazy Taxi on my Dreamcast so much the disc doesn’t really work anymore. To be fair, SEGA’s GD-ROMs were notable for scratching easily, but I didn’t have this problem with any of my other games from the era. I generally look after all of my things really well. No, the home console conversion of Kenji...
Preview 5 Reasons Why PS5 JRPG Final Fantasy Resonance Will Really Resonate with Fans
Cloudy with a chance of fanservice
Final Fantasy Resonance is a fan’s dream. I was lucky enough to play the franchise’s first HD-2D effort at an event in London yesterday, following the PS5 release’s showing at Gamescom in Cologne last week. And while the outing – inspired by long-running gacha game Final Fantasy Brave Exvius – harboured...
Preview Silent Hill: Townfall Is a PS5 Horror Time Capsule I Can't Wait to Play More Of
The Devil is in the details
Silent Hill: Townfall is one of my most anticipated games of 2026. I came upon the series for the first time having loved the Silent Hill 2 remake and really enjoying what I played of Silent Hill F. However, Townfall was of particular interest to me because of its setting. Heading off to the misty seaside town of St...
Preview Stuntman: Hollywood Feels Like a Racer from a Bygone Era, and I Couldn't Be More Excited
Guess I'll see you in the movies
I was incredibly excited when I got the invite to play Stuntman: Hollywood at Gamescom this year. Announced at a State of Play a few months back, this revived franchise promises chaotic film-stunt-inspired action across some of the largest franchises in Universal’s catalogue. It feels like a throwback to a bygone...
Preview Turok: Origins Won't Rival the Classics as a Bang-Average PS5 Shooter
Mild mannered dinos
Turok: Origins is a third or first-person shooter where you and two other friends take on sentient dinosaurs in a sprawling campaign. That pitch in itself made me think back to Saturday mornings as a kid watching Mighty Morphin Power Rangers or even episodes of Xiaolin Showdown. Of course, Turok isn’t really like any of those...
August2026
Preview Stranger Than Heaven Kicked My Ass, and I'm Not Proud
Stop! Stop! Sammy's already dead
Stranger Than Heaven kicked my ass, guys. I’ve been playing the Yakuza games since the PS2, so I’d like to think I’m a seasoned enjoyer of RGG Studio’s specific brand of brawler gameplay. But I clearly wasn’t prepared for the combat in its latest game, a departure for the franchise, which is presented as...
Preview Hellraiser: Revival Was My Biggest Surprise of Gamescom
Explorers in the further regions of gaming experiences
Just a few days before heading out to Gamescom, I decided to watch Clive Barker’s Hellraiser for the first time. It’s a cult-classic 80s horror film filled with brilliant, gory practical effects and a niche sadomasochistic spin in its narrative. It wasn’t just because it was a hole in my...
Preview Forget the Soulslikes, This Bizarre New PS5 Game Is Channelling Shenmue Instead
"I see"
In a tiny Gamescom booth, in the business area separated from the hustle and bustle of the Koelnmesse chaos, NEKCOM founder Xiangyu Luo and I may have become BFFs. With a translator converting my questions into Mandarin, I’m not sure how much he understood – but his eyes lit up when I made a reference to Shenmue, my all-time favourite...
Preview I Waited 13 Years to Play The Wolf Among Us 2, But I Have One Concern
The temp asset among us
I’ve been waiting for The Wolf Among Us 2 for an age. When I played the original, I was about 17-years-old, and my mates and I used to squeeze into my tiny bedroom to play the game on Xbox 360. So it was an odd sensation squeezing into a tiny booth at Gamescom to check out the sequel 13 years later. I sat down with Design...
Preview Alien Isolation 2 Was My Favourite PS5 Game at Gamescom
The wait is almost over
Hands down, Alien Isolation 2 was the highlight of my time at Gamescom 2026 — and that’s even with the demo I played being the same one that many got their hands on at Summer Games Fest earlier this year. This long-awaited sequel from Creative Assembly is easily my most hyped PS5 game for 2027, and my 20 minutes –...
Preview 6 Ways PS5's Tides of Annihilation Blew Me Away After 2 Hours of Play
The tide is high-ly impressive
Eclipse Glow Games didn’t need to build a giant cathedral in the centre of Chengdu, China to convince of me of Tides of Annihilation’s ambition – but it certainly didn’t hurt. Ever since I got word of the dev’s decision to show off its hotly anticipated action game, the irony of travelling approximately...
Preview After Online Storm, Here's the Truth About Wolverine PS5
Sharing a clear view of the next PS5 exclusive
Playing video games is a hobby designed to be enjoyable, so why has a wave of new Marvel's Wolverine previews been met with ridicule and slander? Despite the fact such pre-release verdicts were generally very positive, inaccurate videos have spread claims about the next PS5 exclusive that simply aren't...
July2026
Preview DOOM: The Dark Ages - Revelations Is Putting an Endgame in Your Fave PS5 Shooter
Stand and fight again and again
It may have been away from the PS5 game for more than a year, but id Software has finally returned to DOOM: The Dark Ages with a major expansion that's much more than just another campaign. It does have that as a basis, providing more story, missions, and a new weapon to define the DLC. However, on top of it all is...
June2026
Preview Dragon Ball XenoVerse 3 Could Be the Bigger Budget Sequel the Series Needs
Back to the future
Dragon Ball XenoVerse 2 has been actively supported for so long that it almost feels weird to be talking about Dragon Ball XenoVerse 3 — but it's happening, and I've seen gameplay with my own eyes. Bandai Namco recently showed off footage to members of the press, and although it was taken from an early build, the presentation...
Preview 5 Things That Surprised Me Playing Star Wars: Galactic Racer on PS5
Now THIS is podracing
Last week, I travelled to a galaxy far, far away to play Star Wars: Galactic Racer on the PS5 – well it was just Fuse Games’ head office in sunny Guildford, actually, but I needed an exciting intro. If you don’t know about the UK games industry, Guildford – just outside of London – is a bit of a hotspot of talent. I...
Preview Like a Greatest Hits Game, Remedy Peaks in Control Resonant
The best of both Remedy worlds
There are far too many games coming out and nowhere near enough time to play them all in September. You could fuel a backlog for the next six months off its releases alone, so to cut through all the noise, I'm here to tell you Control Resonant is the one to pay attention to most. Off the back of its other series,...
Preview Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve - Journal of an FCU Pilot in Training
Project runway
Well, it seems I've been drafted for the FCU air force. From what I understand, our military needs all the help it can get, and I'm only too happy to lend a hand. I've been studying the history books for a long time; from the Belkan War of '95 to the Lighthouse War back in 2019, I've pored over every detail multiple times. I almost...
May2026
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...
April2026
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...
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...
March2026
Preview I Think Pragmata Could Be PS5's Best Shooter Yet
Capcom's unstoppable form continues
I’ve been lucky enough to play Pragmata a few times for previews now, but the Capcom shooter’s only getting better with each successive demo. This was the longest yet: I got to spend a full two hours with dual protagonists Hugh and Diana, and I’m confident saying this could be one of the best PS5 shooters...
Preview Sword Art Online Returns to PS5 as a Darker Open World Action RPG This Summer
Echoes of Aincrad
Echoes of Aincrad: Sword Art Online will see the long-standing franchise return to PS5 this summer, and based on what we saw at a recent Bandai Namco press event, it's set to be a fairly fresh take on the property. In a nutshell, Echoes of Aincrad embraces the darker side of Sword Art Online; it's about battling your way through...
February2026
Hands On Marathon Is Dense, Demanding, and Drop Dead Gorgeous
Reach for the stars
We can tell you one thing for free: Marathon isn’t another ARC Raiders-like extraction shooter. Where Embark’s phenomenal title is instantly fun and approachable for most gamers, Marathon is dense, brutally tough, and clearly catering to a more hardcore niche. And we think that’s a good thing. That means, of course, that...
Preview This GTA-Inspired Anime Game Took Me by Surprise on PS5
Mint
There were points playing NTE, the new GTA-inspired anime open world from Hotta Studio, where I genuinely wanted to applaud what I was seeing on the screen. Many of you will know that the production values of gacha games has been growing since the transformative success of Genshin Impact, with titles like Zenless Zone Zero and Infinity Nikki...
January2026
Hands On Highguard Is Real and Potentially Great on PS5
Get off your high horse
Highguard is, in fact, real, and we’ve played it. Wildlight Entertainment, a collective of ex-Respawn developers, has launched a free-to-play PvP raid shooter, and after a couple of matches, we’re intrigued to sink some more time into it. This is, admittedly, our very early impressions, but like many, we wanted to know...
Preview Resident Evil Requiem Is the Ultimate PS5 Horror Game
We play three hours of Grace and Leon's adventure
Believe it or not, Resident Evil 7: Biohazard is a decade old this time next year. An instalment that changed the game for Capcom's survival horror series, it made first-person the standard for mainline titles and brought proper terror back after the failings of Resident Evil 6. It's fascinating,...
December2025
Preview Avatar PS5 Is Transformed in Third-Person, Expanded in From the Ashes DLC
An evolving Pandora
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora - From the Ashes is a bigger deal than we initially thought. The third paid DLC for Massive Entertainment’s 2023 movie tie-in offers up a 25-hour campaign, a new region, and the highly requested third-person mode. But what really struck us was a greater sense of what was described as “brand...
November2025
Hands On Where Winds Meet PS5 Is Vast, Visionary, and on the Verge of Collapse
A free-to-play epic unlike anything we've encountered before
After approximately 20 hours of play, we’ve barely scratched the surface of Where Winds Meet. We’d considered publishing a Review in Progress, but it quickly became evident that the scale of this game far exceeds the playtime we had available prior to release. Furthermore, we have...
Preview Starsand Island Is a Cosy PS5 RPG Straight Out of a Studio Ghibli Daydream
Your new Spirited Away escape
We recently had the opportunity to go hands-on with Starsand Island, an upcoming cosy RPG developed by Seed Lab. This gorgeous anime-style life sim takes place on the titular Starsand Island which feels like something straight out of Studio Ghibli. Players create a character and explore the island paradise in an...
October2025
Preview Marvel Tokon's Biggest Battle Isn't in the Arena
Too mighty for mere mortals?
Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls is without a doubt one of 2026’s most exciting PS5 releases. But the game, which has garnered a tremendous reception, has a challenging tightrope to walk: it needs to appeal to the pros who show up at events like Evo, while simultaneously sustaining the interest of casuals who don’t...
September2025
Preview It's Mine's Time to Shine in Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties
We play the all-new expansion included with SEGA's remaster
You never forget your first. And when it comes to Ryu ga Gotoku, many of you will have taken your first taste of the franchise with Yakuza 3. That’s because, in the West at least, it was the first entry in the series to release on Sony’s next-gen system at the time, the PS3...
Preview PS5's Most Promising 2026 Shooter Pragmata Is Starting to Take Shape
Dot hack
We’ve played PS5 shooter Pragmata three times now. It’s honestly quite rare these days to get so much hands-on time with a game prior to release, but we think Capcom’s desperate to communicate what sets its latest shooter apart. While on the surface it may look like yet another third-person action affair, as we’ve pointed out on a...
Preview We Played Anime Open World Ananta, and It Could Change Everything
We talk to NetEase about the most disruptive game in years
Two years ago, when we interviewed Ashley Qi from NetEase subsidiary Naked Rain, we asked the Lead Producer outright: is Ananta – then known as Project Mugen – real? He insisted it was, and now having played a PC build of the outrageously impressive anime open world for around 30...
Preview Dispatch's Superpower Is Its One-Two Punch of Management and Narrative Choice
Man in the chair
AdHoc Studio is a development team led by some ex-Telltale Games talent, and it really shows in its debut game, Dispatch. It's a workplace comedy starring superheroes, and by and large, it looks as though it plays out in much the same way as titles such as Tales from the Borderlands. Dispatch is a mostly linear, narrative-focused...
Preview Teamwork Is the True Terror of Little Nightmares 3
Screamwork makes the dream work
It’s a testament to the success of the two previous Little Nightmares titles that this third instalment exists at all. With Swedish series creator Tarsier switching to new title Reanimal, publisher Bandai Namco has turned to Until Dawn developer Supermassive Games to make this co-op focused threequel. In some...
Preview Heat Is Everything World of Tanks Isn't and That's What Makes It a Blast
Warming up those tracks
The market for arcade, adrenaline-fueled vehicular combat games is pretty slim these days. While we occasionally get an indie title come through or an old Twisted Metal game gets released onto PS Plus Premium, there isn't much choice out there. WarGaming is known for creating realistic vehicular combat games, but at...
Preview How The Smiths Shaped Suda51's Wildest World Yet in Romeo Is a Dead Man
Morrissey meets murder
With a career spanning over 30 years, Suda51 could be forgiven for running out of ideas. But his upcoming Romeo Is a Dead Man, a scrappy mix of third-person shooting and melee combat, may be his most insane creation yet – not bad for a director whose credits also include zany efforts like Killer7 and Killer Is Dead. We...
Preview Why Digimon Story Time Stranger Will Scratch Your Pokémon Itch on PS5
Gotta Gomamon
It’s been decades since this author has interacted with anything involving Digimon, but at a recent behind closed doors Bandai Namco event, the key art proved an attractive draw. Building on the blueprints of past Digimon Story titles, specifically Cyber Sleuth – which first released on the PS Vita – and its pseudo-sequel...
Preview Why 007 First Light Is the Most Exciting Game of 2026
From Hitman to Her Majesty
007 First Light’s debut demo left us both shaken and stirred. You’ll no doubt be reading this breathless after Sony’s latest State of Play presentation, but we’ve had a little over a week to process our reaction to IO Interactive’s latest. In a nutshell? This upcoming effort, due out on 27th March, is sitting...
August2025
Preview Lumines Arise on PS5 Is the Eye-Popping Glow-Up the Series Deserves
Glitter bomb
While it isn't a household name in the same way Tetris is, Lumines can stand proudly alongside it as one of the great falling-block puzzle games. The two series share an interesting connection, perhaps best represented by Tetris Effect — a combination of the game's timeless line-clearing gameplay with the audiovisual splendour that...
Preview The New LEGO Batman Plays Like Arkham, Brilliantly Rebuilt in Bricks
Bricking bat
It’s been 10 long years since Batman: Arkham Knight, a title which was undeniably divisive in its day. We simply didn’t know how good we had it at the time. After a decade out in the wilderness working on the disastrous Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, there is word that UK developer Rocksteady may finally be turning its...
Preview Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds Already Feels Like a Respectable Rival to Mario Kart World
Gotta go fast
Time has been kind to Sumo Digital’s iconic PS3 and PS Vita kart racer Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed. The multi-discipline arcade racer – which pulled liberally from SEGA’s back catalogue and found you piloting jet-skis and airplanes as well as cars – is often mentioned in the same breath as Mario Kart, the genre’s...
Preview The Outer Worlds 2 Doubles Down on RPG Gameplay to Great Effect
More money, more problems?
We recently managed to play through the opening hour of The Outer Worlds 2, where we got a feel for gameplay, a peep at the far glitzier graphics, and tested out the foundations of its RPG leanings. We walked away not entirely won over, but certainly intrigued to play more. Our play time with the game was on the Xbox...
Preview Denshattack Is a Dreamcast Era Throwback Mostly Riding the Right Rails
All aboard the DC Xpress
Denshattack looks and plays like a long-lost Dreamcast game. That’s probably the greatest compliment we can pay to Spanish studio Undercoders’ latest effort, because we still have fond memories of that early 2000s era of SEGA software, like Jet Set Radio and Crazy Taxi. For the uninitiated, this is a train game – but...
Preview Anime-Inspired Arcade Racer Screamer Is the Genre's Most Exciting in Over a Decade
Scream if you wanna go faster
Sometimes a game grabs you by the balls and makes you realise it’s what you’ve been yearning for all along. Screamer, the upcoming anime-inspired PS5 racer from industrious Italian developer Milestone, is that game. This is the sequel to an ancient PC arcade racer, which was notable for pushing the limits of...
Preview Train Sim World 6 Finally Goes Fully Global in Its Sixth Iteration
But not necessarily at launch
One of the biggest complaints we’ve had with Train Sim World since its inception is that its definition of the globe has largely focused on the UK, Germany, and USA. While we appreciate these are probably the biggest markets for the game, we’ve always been eager for the franchise to live up to its namesake. To...
Preview Hellraiser PS5's Sexual Horror Is Pushing Its M Rating to the Max
Pain for pleasure
Within the opening ten minutes of our Clive Barker’s Hellraiser: Revival demo, we’d seen protagonists Aidan and Sunny f*cking while sticking pins in each other and seductively cutting each other with sharp objects. Hellraiser is a franchise known for being horny, and the game is not shying away from that. This is a deeply...
Preview Rolling the Dice on PS5's Next Big Gacha, the Anime Open World RPG NTE
Zenless zone hero
Genshin Impact has a lot to answer for. Like the many dark fantasy Soulslikes that seem to be releasing every single week, anime gacha games have become a genre all of their own. There are dozens of them now, from Zenless Zone Zero to Wuthering Waves and everything in between. Neverness to Everness, or NTE for convenience, is...
Preview Masters of the Brawliverse! The New Retro He-Man Game Hits Hard
The ultimate Eternian beat-'em-up
We’re in a golden era for retro-style arcade games, and UK studio Bitmap Bureau is one of the many devs leading the way. Its upcoming effort, the mouthy He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: Dragon Pearl of Destruction, is being developed concurrently with the highly anticipated Terminator 2D: No Fate – two...
Hands On Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter Feels Like a Huge Step Forward for Falcom's RPG Series
Sky high
We've been saying this for a good few months now, but Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter really is shaping up to be one of this year's best RPGs. For those totally out of the loop, this is a complete remake of the first game in Falcom's long-running Trails franchise. What was once a sprite-based adventure is now a fully 3D revival sporting a...
Preview Pragmata Goes Full Anime in Extended Gameplay Demo, And We Love It
Hacking our way through a few more minutes of Capcom's shooter
What else is there to say about Pragmata? We recently had the opportunity to play an extended gameplay demo of the upcoming Capcom shooter, and we still think it’s D’s knees. (D for Diana, the little android girl who’s on your back. Geddit?! Whatever.) The point is this is...
Preview Capcom's Onimusha: Way of the Sword Seems Steeled for Success
We go hands-on with fantasy action
When we previously previewed Onimusha: Way of the Sword, the long-awaited successor to Capcom’s action fantasy franchise, we went out of our way to say it isn’t Dark Souls. It may seem strange to talk about what a game isn’t, but we know how all-encompassing – and, honestly, overbearing –...
Preview Here's Why Resident Evil Requiem's Tension Is Off the Charts
Our impressions after two playthroughs of Capcom's white knuckle demo
Capcom understands Resident Evil’s secret sauce, and that’s evident in this first demo of upcoming entry, Resident Evil Requiem. At a recent demo event prior to Gamescom, playing on a PS5 Pro, we were able to test out about 20 minutes of the upcoming survival horror. Except,...
Preview PowerWash Simulator 2 Is Bigger, Better, and as Satisfying as Ever
Now you're washing with power
For a certain type of player, PowerWash Simulator is about as satisfying a game experience there is. Sweeping a high-pressure jet of water across absurdly filthy surfaces, carving cleanliness into objects big and small bit by bit, is a strangely meditative, rewarding way to spend your time. There's already dozens of...
